romney rose to the occasion in the debates. he was challenged from the right continually in the primaries during the nomination process, and every time he had to win a critical debate, he did. he won the nom noination in the last debate in arizona. if that debate had gone against him, he may well not be the nominee today. he's an experienced debater. he is a very capable person. he's a smart person. he's going to be extremely well prepared. preparation is his mantra. i expect mitt romney to do well tonight. >> gretchen, ultimately who do you think will be controlling this debate and setting the other candidate on the run? >> well, i think president obama does have an advantage here that he's been talking about the same policies and using the same talking points for the past four years. so he has that advantage. his convention speech was a lot like a state of the union speech that we've heard over and over and over again. so romney i think will have to rise to the challenge tonight. he'll be on the stage with the president. he k